Chassis are commonly used for mounting telecommunication and other electronic equipment to a server rack. Size and temperature are important factors in determining the type of server rack and accompanying chassis to deploy. Physical space must be used to store electronic equipment, and therefore maximizing space efficiency is important. Also, the reliability of the electronic equipment mounted to a server rack depends on the temperature of the room or cabinet in which the equipment is stored. The use of a chassis can affect the amount of physical space used in rack. A chassis can also affect the temperature of electronic equipment through venting mechanisms.
Various cooling systems have been deployed to control the temperature of the equipment, such as hot aisle and cold aisle strategies as well as hot aisle containment and cold aisle containment. In such hot aisle containment and cold aisle containment situations, front to rear venting is essential. In open rack situations, on the other hand, front to rear venting is not as important and side venting can be deployed. Chassis are commonly provided with side venting, and if the user needs front to rear venting only, then a baffle is implemented to redirect airflow. However, implementing a baffle requires a change to the chassis width, which can conflict with some standard rack sizes or interfere with rack mount brackets.
Therefore, there exists a need for a chassis that can be reconfigured to accommodate various venting requirements without changing the width of the chassis. It is to such an apparatus that the inventive concepts disclosed herein are directed.